Archive for the 'San Jose Sharks' Tag Under 'Ducks' Category

The Ducks will open their 2015-16 regular schedule on Oct. 10 at San Jose when they face their Pacific Division rival Sharks.

Following that game, the Ducks will start a four-game homestand with their home opener against Vancouver on Oct. 12. They'll face the reigning Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 27 in Chicago in a rematch of the Western Conference finals.

The Blackhawks will pay their first visit in the Ducks' annual Black Friday matinee on Nov. 27.

The first of five meetings between the Ducks and Kings will take place on Jan. 17 at Honda Center. Edmonton and expected No. 1 overall pick Connor McDavid will come to Anaheim on Nov. 11.

In addition, the Ducks will end their regular season on April 9 at Colorado.

ANAHEIM -- There are seven new teams to the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs that weren't in a year ago and it has renewed excitement in a number of different places.

Vancouver, Washington and Nashville are back after a year's absence. The New York Islanders are closing out venerable Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in style. Ottawa is riding the wave of an incredible Hamburglar-led stretch run. Calgary has proved every expert wrong.

And there's Winnipeg, which will see the NHL postseason in its hockey-mad hamlet for the first time since 1996 when the Ducks play the Jets 2.0 in Game 3. Who isn't in the Cup chase this spring is just about as surprising.

The fact that the defending champion Kings -- and the San Jose Sharks for that matter -- aren't in the tournament has thrown the Ducks, who don't have to go through either as it navigates the still-challenging Western Conference as the top seed.

"I think that’s an odd situation that hasn't happened in as long as I can remember," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said.

SAN JOSE -- Here is the expected lineup that the Ducks (32-10-6) will start with against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at SAP Center. With another big game coming Friday at home against Chicago, Coach Bruce Boudreau is handing the goaltending reins over to Ilya Bryzgalov (1-2-0, 3.71 GAA, .854 SV%) for his fourth start with the club. Bryzgalov got his first win as a Duck since 2007 on Jan. 16 when he stopped 15 of 16 shots in a 5-1 win over New Jersey. Devante Smith-Pelly jumps back into the lineup for the first time in three games and Tim Jackman is expected to sit. Kyle Palmieri has five goals in nine games since coming back from a shoulder injury. Defenseman Colby Robak was put on waivers, which is another sign that Eric Brewer (foot) is very close to being available. Boudreau said he hopes to get Brewer a game in the near future, even as he has his top six healthy and playing well. This is the annual fathers' trip and many of them came for the stops in Vancouver and San Jose.

The NHL came down on the San Jose Sharks' John Scott Thursday, suspending the winger four games for his punch to an unsuspecting Ducks forward Tim Jackman.on Monday night.

Scott struck Jackman with his right hand as a stoppage in play had occurred in the second period when Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen secured the puck after making a save. Jackman did not return to the game after intially being knocked unconscious for a few moments.

In a video to announce the suspension, the league said Scott's reaction to Jackman shoving him with his stick by "flailing his right arm and catching Jackman on the chin with his right hand" was a violation of Rule 46.15.

No penalty was called on the ice but Scott is a repeat offender, now suspended for the third time in his seven-year career. The winger will forfeit $34,146.36 of his salary to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

ANAHEIM – Some notes, quotes and other musings from the Ducks’ 3-2 overtime win over San Jose on Monday night …

-- It will be a dandy Christmas holiday break for the ones who wear black, orange and gold.

The Ducks head in with an NHL-leading 51 points and an eight-point bulge in the Pacific Division over the second-place Sharks, courtesy of Ryan Kesler’s wicked wrist shot that flew past goalie Antti Niemi.

Not only did the Ducks gain the extra point on the red-hot Sharks but they beat them for the first time in three tries this season and showed again just how resilient they are, rallying back after letting a 1-0 lead get away in the third period.

ANAHEIM -- Here is the expected lineup that the Ducks (22-8-5) will start with against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night at Honda Center in the final game for both teams before the Christmas holiday break. Frederik Andersen (18-5-4, 2.41 GAA, .913 SV%) gets back in goal after getting a game off last Friday in Ottawa following 20 consecutive starts. Corey Perry (knee) and Francois Beauchemin (finger) will not play as the Ducks will take the cautious route and give the two key veterans five more days of rest before looking at their availability for Saturday's game at Arizona. Beauchemin is the closer of the two but will sit for the 13th straight time while Perry will miss his eighth consecutive contest. Hampus Lindholm (lower body) gets back in after sitting out the 6-2 defeat to Ottawa. Eric Brewer (foot) remains on crutches and Coach Bruce Boudreau said his status remains week to week. Matt Beleskey and Cam Fowler will both appear in their 300th NHL games tonight. Ryan Getzlaf remains red hot with six goals and 12 assists in his last 11 games.

SAN JOSE – Some notes, quotes and other musings from the Ducks’ 6-4 road loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night …

-- You can say this about Bruce Boudreau. The veteran coach has no problem pushing the buttons of his superstars.

Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry had been mighty quiet on the ice in six games since Perry came back from his bout with the mumps virus. Too quiet even and that had Boudreau resorting to heavy-handed tactics.

Boudreau separated the longtime running mates to start the game. It was a move to jumpstart a team that had been dominated by Chicago the night before and a pair of leaders that hadn’t exactly been leading.

Getzlaf and Perry had not done much and were mostly invisible against the Blackhawks, with Perry getting the only notable chance in the third period of a 4-1 defeat. So Boudreau went to something he’s done before – but only rarely.

SAN JOSE -- Here is the expected lineup that the Ducks (14-5-5) will put on the ice against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night at SAP Center. It is the second meeting between the Pacific Division rivals with the teams combining for 165 penalty minutes in a fight-filled matchup on Oct. 26 at Honda Center. Frederik Andersen (10-3-4, 2.15 GAA, .922 SV%) will make his 11th consecutive start in goal after stopping 34 of 37 shots Friday in a 4-1 loss to Chicago. Eric Brewer will make his debut after being picked up from Tampa Bay in a trade. Brewer had been a scratch for the Lightning, having last played nine days ago for them at Toronto. He should eat up a few minutes as Coach Bruce Boudreau leaned heavily on Hampus Lindholm (career-high 29:25), Sami Vatanen (27:00) and Cam Fowler (25:22) against Chicago because of the injuries and inexperience on the blue line. Leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf is in an offensive slump with just one goal and one assist in his last six games. More than half of the Ducks goal scorers is among four players -- Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Matt Beleskey and Ryan Kesler. With the Sharks dressing John Scott and Mike Brown on their fourth line, Tim Jackman should return to the lineup and Rickard Rakell will draw back out. Rakell had a shot on goal in just over 10 minutes of action against the Blackhawks.

ANAHEIM -- Corey Perry scored with 1:23 left in overtime to give the Ducks a 2-1 comeback victory over San Jose in the final exhibition game for both teams Saturday night.

Perry got a pass from Ryan Getzlaf and circled around to rip a slap shot past Sharks goalie Antti Niemi, who had been a thorn in the Ducks' side all evening. It was the first power-play goal for the Ducks all preseason after failing to score on their previous 20 chances.

"There’s obviously things that we have to work out," Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "And people still aren’t as sharp as they will be 20 games into the season. But our penalty killing has got a lot of confidence and is doing a great job.

"It was great to see our power play finally score a goal, even if it was a four-on-three. That'll give them a little bit of confidence. Yeah, we went in the right direction."

Niemi foiled many good scoring opportunity among his 27 stops but the Ducks managed to break through late in regulation before an announced 13,682 at Honda Center.

ANAHEIM - There might still be questions about the Ducks and their worthiness as bona fide Stanley Cup contenders, but there is no doubt they are the Pacific Division champions.

Patrick Maroon scored twice for the first time and the Ducks rode 36 saves from John Gibson to secure their second straight division title with a 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night at a standing-room-only Honda Center.

The Ducks (52-20-8) had won just one division title until last season. Those 2006-07 Pacific champions ultimately went on to capture the franchise's first and only Cup, but this edition has set club marks for wins, points (112) and goals (257).

But their first-round opponent isn't set. While San Jose is locked in for another playoff battle with the Kings, the Ducks took a one-point lead over St. Louis for the top spot in the Western Conference. The Blues have one game in hand.

Jason Demers got the Sharks on the scoreboard first when he moved in to put a shot past Gibson after Joe Pavelski jumped on an ill-fated clearing attempt by the Ducks' Bryan Allen and set up his defenseman.